The display of financial information by data providers to local users through web-based applications is well-known and commonplace in the finance industries. In addition to the display of financial numbers on a graphical user interface, existing technology provides users with the opportunity of viewing how a specific number is derived. This is accomplished by allowing the user to click on or select any number using a pointing device such as a mouse. Once a chosen number having a hyperlink is clicked on, a window appears that shows the component numbers used to calculate the chosen number, and the method used, such as the addition, subtraction, multiplication, etc., of the component numbers.
A highly desired system and method shows a user where the chosen number that was clicked on appears within a financial document. However, current methods accomplish this through the tedious and time-consuming method of manual “tagging.” This process consists of endless hours of searching through thousands of documents to locate the number within a source document and then tagging the actual source of the numbers. When a search is conducted, only the tagged numbers that conform to the search request are identified.
The system and method for locating a number in a document avoids the manual “tagging” of source documents. The invention achieves the goal of finding a specific number in a source document quickly and efficiently, unlike any other method previously employed. It utilizes a central database of information and presents the desired financial numbers to the user within minutes. Once a specific number is clicked on, the invention rapidly searches for the source document containing the number and presents the source document containing the specific number to the user. It achieves this through the use of a computer code and basic algorithms.
The present invention tracks the thinking process of investment bankers regarding financial numbers, and allows a banker to review the reliability of financial information by tracing a number back to its original source. The process of confirming financials that may have taken a banker hours and hours to complete may now be achieved in just minutes.
The invention is currently offered in an ASP model (via the Internet) and is bundled with the central database provider's platform. It could easily be provided as a “behind the firewall” software solution, as a stand-alone product or it may be bundled with other services.